2017 UEFA Europa League Final
The 2017 UEFA Europa League Final was the final match of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, the 46th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 8th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. It was played at the Friends Arena in Solna, Sweden on 24 May 2017, between Dutch side [[Eye-axe|'Ajax']] and English side Manchester United. Manchester United won the match 2–0 to secure their first title in this competition. With this victory, they joined Juventus, Ajax, Bayern Munich and Chelsea as the only clubs to have won all three major European trophies (European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League, and the now defunct UEFA Cup Winners' Cup). [[Moneychester United|'Manchester United']] earned the right to play against the winners of the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid, in the 2017 UEFA Super Cup. They will also enter the group stage of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, as the berth reserved for the Champions League title holders will not be used. Since the winners of the 2017 UEFA Champions League Final, Real Madrid, secured a spot in the group stage of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League via their league position, the Europa League winner will enter the group stage directly. |- !Date |24 May 2017 |- !Venue |Friends Arena, Solna |- !Man of the Match |Ander Herrera (Manchester United) |- !Referee |Damir Skomina (Slovenia) |- !Attendance |46,961 |- !Weather |Partly cloudy 19 °C (66 °F) 44% humidity |} Venue The Friends Arena in Solna hosted the final. The Friends Arena was announced as the final venue on 30 June 2015, following the decision of the UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Prague, Czech Republic. Background This was [[Eye-axe|'Ajax']]'s second final in the UEFA Cup/Europa League, having won in the 1992 UEFA Cup Final over Torino on away goals. This was Manchester United's 1st final in the UEFA Cup/Europa League. They were seeking to join Juventus, Ajax, Bayern Munich and Chelsea as the only clubs to have won all 3 major European trophies (European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League, and the now defunct UEFA Cup Winners' Cup). The two sides had previously met 4 times in European competitions, all in the UEFA Cup/Europa League, with a record of two wins each. However, Manchester United had eliminated Ajax on both occasions, 2–1 on aggregate in the 1976–77 UEFA Cup first round, and 3–2 on aggregate in the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League round of 32. Road to the final For more details on this topic, see 2016–17 UEFA Champions League and 2016–17 UEFA Europa League. Note: In the table, the score of the finalist is given first (H = home; A = away). Source: UEFA |Final standings | colspan="4" |'Group A runners-up' Source: UEFA |- |Opponent |Agg. |1st leg |2nd leg |Knockout phase |Opponent |Agg. |1st leg |2nd leg |- |Legia Warsaw |1–0 |0–0 (A) |1–0 (H) |Round of 32 |Saint-Étienne |4–0 |3–0 (H) |1–0 (A) |- |Copenhagen |3–2 |1–2 (A) |2–0 (H) |Round of 16 |Rostov |2–1 |1–1 (A) |1–0 (H) |- |Schalke 04 |4–3 |2–0(H) |2–3 (a.e.t.) (A) |Quarter-finals |Anderlecht |3–2 |1–1 (A) |2–1 (a.e.t.) (H) |- |Lyon |5–4 |4–1 (H) |1–3 (A) |Semi-finals |Celta Vigo |2–1 |1–0 (A) |1–1 (H) |} Pre-match Ambassador The ambassador for the final was former Swedish international player Patrik Andersson, who won the Champions League with Bayern Munich against Valencia in 2001. Logo UEFA unveiled the brand identity of the final on 26 August 2016 in Monaco during the group stage draw. Ticketing With a stadium capacity of 48,000 for the final, a total amount of 37,000 tickets were available to fans and the general public, with the two finalist teams receiving 10,000 tickets each and with 17,000 tickets being available for sale to fans worldwide via UEFA.com from 17 to 28 March 2017 in four price categories: €150, €100, €70, and €45. The remaining tickets were allocated to the local organising committee, UEFA and national associations, commercial partners and broadcasters, and to serve the corporate hospitality programme. Opening ceremony A minute's silence was observed before the final in memory to victims of the bombing in Manchester which occurred 2 days before the final; the opening ceremony was thus considerably reduced. Match Officials Slovenian referee Damir Skomina was announced as the final referee by UEFA on 12 May 2017. Summary Paul Pogba opened the scoring for Manchester United in the 18th minute when his low left foot shot from just outside the penalty area took a deflection off Davinson Sánchez which wrong footed the goalkeeper before looping over him and into the net. Henrikh Mkhitaryan got the second goal 3 minutes into the second half when with his back to goal he flicked the ball into the net with his right foot from three yards out after the ball was had been knocked down to him by Chris Smalling after a corner from the right by Juan Mata. Details The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the semi-final draw, which was held on 21 April 2017 at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. | | |} Statistics | | |} See also * Association football portal * Sweden portal * 2017 UEFA Champions League Final * 2017 UEFA Super Cup Category:Games